The Dallas Mavericks organization was fined $750,000 for “conduct detrimental to the league,” the NBA said Friday.
The fine stems from the Mavericks’ actions in a game against the Chicago Bulls on April 7, when Dallas still had a chance of qualifying for the NBA’s play-in tournament. Instead of making an all-out effort, the Mavericks sat Kyrie Irving, limited the play of Luka Doncic and made four other players unavailable.
“The Mavericks violated the league’s player resting policy and demonstrated through actions and public statements the organization’s desire to lose the game in order to improve the chances of keeping its first-round pick in the 2023 NBA Draft,” the NBA said in a news release. “The league did not find that the players who participated in the game were not playing to win.”…